A review by thebookcoyote
Gwen and Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher

adventurous emotional lighthearted sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

TW/CW: Violence, death, mild sexuality 

REVIEW: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press and am voluntarily writing an honest review. 
Gwen & Art Are not in Love is a story of two royal teenagers in the Middle Ages who are being forced into a marriage that neither of them want – mainly because she is into girls, and he is into guys. They decide to pretend to be falling in love as a cover to their real feelings. 
I really wanted to like this book. I love the idea of it. Unfortunately, it didn’t really live up to what I wanted. First of all, this book really has absolutely nothing to do with King Arthur. There are brief mentions of him throughout the book, but nothing that is really important to the story. Secondly, nothing really ~happens and for most of the book it’s actually pretty boring. Thirdly, there’s really not a single likable character in the book, which made it really difficult for me to connect. 
The three stars I’m giving this book are for the following thing: LGBTQIA+ representation! There need to be more books like this, in that way. The writing – although little happened, the writing was solid and easy to read. And the fact that this book is pretty short – quite a few of the last books I’ve read were way over-long and I appreciate that this one wasn’t. 
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